Friday, 20 November 2009

Tattie Scones

Usually made with leftovers from Sunday lunch, tattie scones are my favourite comforting and immediate afterschool snack. My boys can wolf down 10 of these a piece and look for more! So definitely an occasional treat, not a particularly healthy snack. Almost every country in the world has some kind of potato pancake, our tattie scones are made with mash worked together with flour and baking powder until the dough is firm enough to roll and cut out shapes from, then lightly fried on a griddle pan, it is simple, hot fast food like granny used to make.

I've spent all week playing with it, we've eaten spinach and feta flavour - lovely and salty; leek, ham and cheddar - horribly morish; grated courgette and dunsyre blue cheese -they'll make gorgeous christmas canapes ; and my absolute favourite breakfast tattie scone so far has to be crispy bacon and roast onion. Make these plain and serve them lip-blisteringly hot straight from the pan with a little butter melted over, or abandon tradition, throw in all the extras and have a full breakfast on a plate.

Heat the oven to 180C. Put the onion in a roasting tin (this is easier if you are using leftovers - just plan ahead and roast an onion with your meal the previous night) with a drizzle of oil and roast till golden and caramel coloured. Add the onion and bacon bits to the mash then stir 2oz of the flour with the baking powder and salt. Keep adding flour until the mixture holds together and loses its stickiness. Roll out the dough and cut 6cm rounds with a cookie cutter.
Heat a frying pan or griddle pan till hot, rub with a scant half teaspoon of butter then fry the potato scones 2-3 minutes till golden on both sides.

Grate the courgette finely then put the fine shavings into a teatowel and squeeze all the moisture out.
Mix the mashed potatoes with the flour, salt, baking powder, courgette and cheese. Gently knead the mixture together to make a soft dough. Roll out the dough and cut 6cm rounds with a cookie cutter. Cook as above.